Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever

13 reviews

paulawind's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

What the fuck was this book. Do I so severely lack media literacy skills or intercultural reference skills that most of this book left me thoroughly confused? Paul being a severely unreliable narrator also wasn’t helping to judge the actions and motivations behind them of any character but Pablo. In the end

we find out that Julian genuinely loved Pablo with his whole heart, all cruelty was just Paul’s interpretation, Julian desperately wanted Pablo to love him, even orchestrating murder with him

. Having said that I still don’t understand the motivations of characters by the end. They seemed to be taking 180 every chapter, are they in love, are they not, is Paul just self-loathing or is he actually criminally insane? Getting inside his head made me feel dirty. But then again this is a book, according to the author, about queer isolation and how we are still perceived as “the other”, which is only layered with other marginalisations. And I can see it in the book but there are still so many other points and themes the novel is touching on that leave me confused and they didn’t seemed to be resolved by the end. Or, as I said in the beginning, I just didn’t get it and the metaphors and symbolism was actually really straightforward and I’m just stupid. Which would be very valid, I think ever since exiting academia I am using brain cells at the exponential pace 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Eating disorder, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Violence, Murder, Self harm, Alcohol, Blood, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Classism, Homophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

m4rtt4's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Brilliant, this was so unlike anything I've read before and kept me on edge the whole time. Took off 0.5 stars for the sluggish pace but overall the codependency was very well written, and though I could see many similarities with The Secret History, I'm a hoe for stories like this and it's ALWAYS a good thing to start the book with a crime even though the rest of the book is mostly just vibes and no plot.

It also took me a while to get used to the audiobook narrator, but once I was hooked, you couldn't have convinced me it wasn't Paul himself talking to me. I definitely do recommend the audiobook experience, as this book is mostly vibes and fits so well in the darkening autumn atmosphere!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death, Suicide, Homophobia, Death of parent, Murder, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Grief, Alcohol, Sexual content, Violence, and Panic attacks/disorders

ashlikes's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Grief, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Homophobia

Moderate: Blood, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Antisemitism, Sexual content, Suicide, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape, Bullying, Sexual violence, Animal death, Sexism, Vomit, and War

torismazarine's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, Antisemitism, Car accident, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Alcohol, Sexual content, and War

karlo's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Alcohol, Stalking, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

eliever's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

traumatizing codependent friendships that would send you to a hospital

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Homophobia

Moderate: Death of parent, Gun violence, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

mrclintdavis's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Self harm

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Alcohol, War, Stalking, Sexual violence, Homophobia, and Kidnapping

niccolowilliam's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow. Damn.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Violence, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Blood, Death, Suicide attempt, Classism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Alcohol, Religious bigotry, Outing, and Antisemitism

Minor: Police brutality and War

risemini's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol

irissantos's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Não fazia a mínima ideia do que esperar quando comecei a ler.
Gosto de ir com as expectativas em aberto, e costuma ser boa ideia.

Foi complicado engrenar na leitura porque a maior parte da narração gira à volta do desenvolvimento e paisagem psicológicos dos personagens e por vezes perdi noção do que estava a acontecer no mundo físico do enredo.

Assim que fiz o "aquecimento" consegui ler o resto num quarto do tempo que me levou a ler a primeira metade.

O foco deste livro é o que acontece quando um adolescente dá ouvidos e alimenta a sua fúria da adolescência, auxiliado por um parceiro narcisista e arrogante.

Juntos acreditam que podem tudo e que são mais astutos que todos. Enquanto isso a sua relação colapsa, é fragmentada e colada de novo, uma e outra vez, com promessas vazias e uma montanha russa tóxica de lovebombing e afastamentos repentinos.

Uma excelente obra de estreia deste autor.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Death, Alcohol, and Blood

Moderate: Homophobia, Addiction, and Suicide

Minor: Animal cruelty